Author's Note:

Hello, everyone. GrayZeppelin here. My writing schedule appears to be off course as if I have been experiencing writer's block for the past few weeks. The fifth volume is unfinished, but I started it when I published Volume IV's last chapter. I will likely focus on one project at a time to do the rewrites and two projects instead of doing it all at once. The updates will go slowly, unlike the last ones I did on Volume IV (because I completed it on a first draft before I edited the rest of the second draft). For now, Volume V has completed at least five chapters (which is disappointing, but I will finish what I can.) using my writing tool, Freewrite Traveler.

Aside from this, the next journey begins with a single step to one group and the others! May the 4th be with you!

— GrayZ

5/4/2024

Volume V: The Shadow

Chapter XI

In the Air

June 10, 1211

Out and beyond, the panda and two avians rode in the airship, sailing to the north. Out for another adventure, as the Dragon Warrior loved being that awesomeness character in him. The journey was in his blood; in that case, he could go to dynasties other than the same towns and villages. Po thought of his friends at the Jade Palace when the panda entered his rented room to see the window that manifested a thousand cloud stretches pulling away to the west. He wanted the Furious Five to come with him and a few members of the Nine if the panda wished to invite them and have an adventure. But now, both unfortunate times happened, drawing many of his friends to split into groups. Seeing his companions go to Great Viper's soon-to-be funeral and Hajin Province's next terror attack, Po went alone with Crane and Shen to search for Emperor Huangdi's daughter somewhere in a neutral country, the Jin Dynasty.

There was no time to go back now, either way.

Back home, he hugged his fathers yesterday. Then, he thought of them more. If only the Emperor's orders were not that high priority to bring only the Dragon Master for a mission, then maybe Li Shan and Mr. Ping would have joined him. Po needed to think ahead of himself instead of what his biological father mentioned. What was Li Shan considering about Shen? Both pandas knew the peacock's story well, but what of Li's perspective? Po only saw Shen as the troubled avian and later changed.

I will have to speak with Dad. I wanna know why he's being skeptical.

Po removed his red cape and hung his straw hat on the counter, placing his patched pack next to the goza mat. Without seeing anybody from behind, his avian companion entered. "Po," Crane called him, tugging his wings to his sides. "Are you feeling alright lately?"

The bear turned with slight confusion but broadened in realization. "Oh. Yeah, I'm okay. Why do you ask?"

"You seem unfortunate," Crane determined, motioning the edge of his conical hat.

"Oh, that's nothing," the panda lied, puffing his quivering lips.

"You would not lie to your friends. Right?" Crane asked, arching his brow with concern. "Friends don't lie, Po. We know what you have been up to since. . . since Shifu."

"Oh," Po regarded, looking down at his paws, which he rummaged. "I guess everybody's changing."

"Your Dads are worrying about you. You've got responsibilities impacting you. And not only did you mention that Mr. Ping is well, are you sure you are alright?"

"Of course I am," Po bent his eye, stretching the other in the everything-is-fine feeling. "I mean, it's not like I'll never see my Dads again."

"I am concerned about Mr. Ping," Crane said, moving closer to the window. "The more I feel about him worrying about you, the worse that he'll be. . . what do you say?"

"Panicking?"

"Worse than that."

Po reflected before finding his answer. "Um. . . Heart attack?"

"Yes," Crane nodded. "Compared to your Dad, Po, my Mum always worries about me doing something I should not do, which is, you know, that one. Kung Fu is my thing. Since then, I have kept in touch with her because worries fade even if a parent sees a child all grown up. When you hug your Dads, it's about them being glad to see you in one piece."

"They are," Po regarded, remembering the goose and the old panda embracing him before the Furious Five gathered around the bear. He looked toward the opening window that depicted the silky cloud webs.

"Remember Xing's speech? At his brother's wedding?" Crane reminded him. "Family comes first?"

"Yeah. That night was awesome."

"That's not the point, but I believe it was," Crane remembered, standing beside the panda near the window. "The point is, Po. When someone like Mr. Ping needs you when you are dealing with anything important —"

Crane's eyes drifted toward the bear. "Look after him. After this mission, stay with your dad. Tigress would say the same to you. Monkey, Mantis, Viper, and. . . Maybe Tai Lung?"

"He was close to Shifu before our teacher's last day," Po thought.

The avian nodded. "Shifu looked after his son, and Tai Lung did the same. You are Mr. Ping and Li's boy, Po. Would you do the same thing to them after they treated you well?"

"I would. I mean, I will," Po stretched his lips to a slight grin.

"I'll be soaring around the airship for a while. If you need anything, come see me," Crane gave a soft pat on Po's flabby arm before leaving the rental room.

The Dragon Master took moments to sit and look at his goose father's pictures from his pack next to him. He looked on happy memories of young Po taking a piggy-back ride on Mr. Ping, his first gold dragon kite slithering across the air near the rim of the Valley of Peace, his first school with a sow teacher and his classmates, and the rest before he had the last picture of himself and his interest, Mei Mei, who held her ocean fan under their torsos when embracing Po.

Happy memories endured since his first day as a son under his adoptive father's care before he became the Master of Jade Palace after Grandmaster Shifu's succession. His thoughts of wanting to reconsider Li Shan's matter about his issue, seeing his son aid and befriend Shen, lingered still; he would rather stay focused on the mission than get overwhelmed by Li Shan's concerns.

The former Lord of Gongmen had his rented room to fill his space alone. His reflections regarding Po's father made him puzzle about remembering the night of the incident. His memories mostly withered, but some of who he was, but no longer what he had become, were appearing to notice the character in him. He remembered the catastrophe when Shen meditated with the Dragon Master within the Dungeon's Hollow. In his past life, he was a cruel Prince with ill-tempered manners, displaying his becoming a Lord while seeking to rule before his father's succession.

But that all changed when Soothsayer Mali's prophecy cornered him to make Prince Shen slaughter pandas, preventing his fate from happening.

After his resurrection from Huoju's grasp, the peacock's memories were swept away, and Shen could not remember the last event and most of his memories. Despite changes under the Prince of Darkness's care before the Dragon Master helped him to remember, the former Lord of Gongmen was no longer who he was — the same character from his past life. A different Shen wished to move on ahead with his life rather than discovering the one and only evil soul. Pandas never forgot the face of the tyrant and his eyes of hatred. Whether Shen discerned to look for redemption and let the past be buried, he was always that evil in their eyes.

"I hope the other me stays dead. I am not that evil Shen anymore," he muttered with humiliation, his wing blanketing his whole head.

Somewhere behind the peacock, hidden within the crumpled sheets and pile of items and tools hanging across the room, the squinting eyes of embers hovered and stared at him. Not long after Shen Jianyu turned when Po called his student across the ship's corridor, the embers died shut.

The land of the Song Dynasty underneath the ship was painted small to ants, the tortoise sky inviting the pale clouds on all sides. The Dragon Master and the former Lord of Gongmen, wandering with awe, began to see the terrains home to them. Though their minds were uncertain about what was ahead of the unknown territory, Po recalled that he had traveled outside of China twice. He set sail with Shifu and the Furious Five to the volcano island and handled the vandals and pirates. The second time, the Prince of Darkness held Po captive from the floating airship to the western terrain of Tibet, living in the mountains. The panda's experience traveling throughout the outside world was half-hardcore and half-overwhelming. In his gut, no defeat dominated him ever since.

Shen had somewhat reflected the conflicts between the Song and the Jin when in exile days, not willing to enter the turmoils while he focused on building his army and the cannons. Neglecting the political aspects and propaganda from the two sides, he would instead focus on reclaiming his inheritance based on his ideals and ambitions. The peacock regarded the bounties across the Song Dynasty lands and was concerned about the people wanting him dead or alive. Still, Shen bore skeptical thoughts about what the Jin Dynasty could have with comparison.

Crane took his timing on flights around the airship, mentioning to Po, Shen, and the airship's captain that the avian could fly and survey the horizon. Most of the masters had the will to watch their surroundings from bandits. Crane carried Zeng across the environment toward the Jade Palace when a group of vultures started to chase after them; Po thought about the Zeng incident, which had involved a week before the Dragon Warrior's introduction. Crane reflected Shen's son, Lord Dongji, who warded off vultures in the sky when they attempted to seize him and rip off his flesh.

Spring, 1210

"Those beasts are out of control, Master Crane," Lao told him on the high peak near the Jade Palace. "Is it true that you and Zeng almost swept away from the storm when vultures tried to chase after you?"

"Um. . . Being chased by vultures was quite overwhelming, to be honest with you," Crane said, his talon giving scratches on his chest.

"Overwhelming?" the young peacock asked with determination.

"I had a bitter experience when confronting the vultures back then," Crane added. "Though not every vulture is good."

"I am aware of them," Lao reflected. "But Master Ming used to meet Master Vulture, who was unlike the bandits. I would have met him with my own eyes if I had been born around forty years earlier. Ming used to say he was a fine teacher; she had no doubts when meeting him as the stubborn avian."

"Hmm. I don't think Master Shifu mentioned or ever met him before," Crane regarded. "What did Master Vulture teach?"

"Tai Chi, as far as I know about him. Ever wonder if he was Master Sheep's teacher?"

"Nope."

"His name was in the Righteous Seven's biography scrolls. That was when Master Ming caught her eyes and ears when she remembered Master Vulture," Lao took his glance and faced the Valley of Peace below them. On the apex height, the cool breeze fiddled their backs. "By the way. I am glad you are still around here after the vulture incident."

"Same thing, Lao. I'm glad you survived," Crane smiled, stretching his beak. He began to stretch his velvet black wings. "You ready?"

"I was born ready to fly, Master. It's in my blood," Lao beamed.

"Alright. Off we go!"

The two avians dove, tumbling and gliding into the shrieking winds as they squinted their eyes. Harsh winds squealed before Crane and Lao spread their wings and pulled their glide, their wings stretching feathers. Almost hovering above the closest steep ridge, the avian rolled and plunged through the gap before the young peacock followed and did the same, folding his train and wings to a quick maneuver. Each bird wedging past the gap puffed the intense gush of wind twice.

Crane and Lao maintained their flight around the Valley of Peace, observing the land and across the outer village rim. Surprised to see the peacock's flight improvement, Crane marveled at Lao's wings and the train's stretched feather strands, which the winds helped him glide better. As astonished to regard the peacock's flight experience, he thought most of the peafowls were not recommended at flights, but jumping from the apex height could have them reach distant areas. As Crane recalled, Shen was the first to leap from the Sacred Flame Tower to the Fireworks Factory until he met the Lord of Gongmen's son.

"Way to go, Lao!" Crane beamed, flapping his inky wings. The clouds ripping the webs apart streamed the sun's rays on them. "You look great!"

"Thank you for the compliment, Master Crane!" Lao smiled.

Across the wedges of the Guangxi terrain, the avians flew and continued performing their agile flights, merging into other villages while surveying the streets and citizens from above. This task was Lord Dongji's favorite activity as if to survey unfriendly aspects and wherever the bandits could appear in large numbers throughout the territories. Crane thought the young peacock was too good to be gifted with learning capabilities. And he thought Lao would be doing great for his fellow brothers and sisters of the Nine — not only his own but to watch for his trusted allies.

Lao is such a spirit. I like him.

Crane still soared beside the airship, his mind filling with anticipation of Lord Dongji's flight training successes. Shaking his head out of the clouds, Crane merged to the left and circled the airship. Later, on the front deck, the Dragon Master called and gestured to his companion, reminding him to have dinner with the panda and his student.

Po's rental room had the table illuminated with three orange candles on the surface. Po, Shen, and Crane devoured their pasta meals when the silvery steams from their bowls wafted and swelled. The airship's captain, a chow-chow, whose cinnamon fur aged with gray strand tips, joined their company. From the window, the sky of dark rose cherry dominated the whole, the pink rays touching the room's ceiling, filled with scathe slithers.

"So, Captain," Po looked at him with curiosity. "That thing you got with a pointy thingy I saw earlier. What is it?"

"Oh, you mean this?"

The canine in his dark silver lamellar tops and a cap with curved flaps brought out a gold plate with intricate character indications and a small pole with a round sphere (the shape of a bowl soon). "Whoa. . ." the panda lit his green eyes, stupendous. "Is that. . .?"

"This, Dragon Master, is a compass," answered the Captain.

"How do you use this thing?" Po's eyes zoomed in, inspecting the compass closer.

"Great question, Master Panda. This compass does point in any direction wherever you are going," the Captain said. "Have you ever seen this one like the others across China?"

"Nope. I bet that's my first time to see it," Po beamed. "Isn't that pointy supposed to point North?"

"Only South," he corrected him. "The original concept was the Emperor's idea when he watched the constellations above the heavens. What he saw, Dragon Master, the lights shaped like a pan and a holder."

"Big Dipper," Shen figured.

"That's the one," the Captain gestured to a nod.

"Holy smokes," Po broadened his eyes. "You know about this one, Shen?"

"Of course I do, Panda," Shen replied, his posture showing awkwardness and confusion. "I learned the constellations at the academy in. . . my home."

Po comprehended what his student meant about the city that was his town. "Oh," Po lowered his tone in awe.

The Captain clarified what these tools were. However, the compass became the coordination to which the ladle pointed in which of the eight directions to guide you. The square around the outer circle indicated the Earth, and the inner round, reflecting with a polished board, showed Heaven. The board and the ladle (Big Dipper) shared magnetism.

"The tip of a spoon always points North because the Dipper faces one light that never spins, the Polaris," the Captain illustrated. "The ladle handle guides South as always."

"Are there any more compasses like that?" Po queried.

"One for water and the other for ground, which is what you are looking at," Shen said. "This one indicates where the ladle points to the land's magnetism as far as the true north lies beyond."

"Indeed," the Captain said. "The compass is your best friend. When you lose yourself in unfamiliar places, you'll have a hard time looking for a home or other places where you need to travel to certain areas."

"I think it's wise to get a compass, Po," Crane advised after swallowing noodles.

"No way. I know my way to go from here," Po squinted his eye.

"Yeah? What about the Jin Dynasty?"

The bear's thought was sparked, almost having him open his lips, but drifted his eyes off course to realization. "Oh."

"My thoughts exactly," Crane scoffed in a friendly posture. "We are heading to unfamiliar places, Po. We need a compass and a map of the Jin Dynasty."

Po buzzed his lips. "Relax, buddy. We'll get to one of the stores to buy 'em."

"I have no doubt you will guide us to where our friend lives," Shen commented.

One of the crewmates above the deck echoed his call, needing the leader at hand. "Excuse me, gentlemen. I have the duty of managing my ship. I will notify you when we are close to the Jin Dynasty boulder," the Captain stood up and grabbed his compass. He held a bowl of noodles before departing to the shoji wooden door.

The Captain stopped and turned to the group. "I forgot. Pardon my manners," he chuckled. "Thank you for the meal, Dragon Master. Your noodles are delicious. Nice to meet you three."

The door closed, and the three warriors continued eating noodles until nightfall.

During the night, unaware of a few spectators peeking in the guest room, which was filled with snores and sleeptalks (muttering dumplings and the sweet bread), the Dragon Master dreamed in a mysterious wood of thick trees before the sky of a thousand speck of rays beaming down on him and the hills. His dreams, piled with heroic acts and pure awesomeness ideals, were his favorite to conquer the horde of enemies who attempted to overwhelm him and the innocent people. Not long before he ventured to the wide opening road with ravine roots, unfamiliar to his home and the Guangxi terrain with the bamboo forest, Po inspected his surroundings when the breeze stroked branches, the trees croaking with low drums.

Po thought heavy steeps were lingering close, determining whether the bovines or apes could draw their presence. However, he was never alone in the woods; friends were watching his back. Wait? Guys? Po glimpsed his surroundings, but neither of his companions was near. Oh, well. I will go solo this time. Enemies of Justice! Face the Dragon Master with all your might!

Sensing the grip was his glossy pole of lime emerald with a yin-yang. Creating a vortex before summoning the great wave of scorching yellow that ebbed and slammed into environments, Po darted onward and searched for unfriendly foes cowering behind trees, boulders, and under the ponds full of rainbow flowers. Nothing but the bits of dust swimming past the panda, his excitement about vanquishing the assailers, died out inside his soul.

"Oh, man. That was only a warm-up? Great," Po groaned.

The trees, as Po had unheard of or ever witnessed in his eyes, began to clutch roots like veins, thumping and trotting in slow gallops. He readied the weapon by his side when low chortles from the leaves and thin branches wavered by far, alive. "What is this place?" the Dragon Master muttered, squaring his eyes on quivering roots, and far down the ridge emerged the gold ray glitters. The shapes of the pointy antlers immersing out of the ripples revealed.

The majestic being, an elk with a thorn crown and a voluminous cloak with roots, looked down at the wary panda. The Dragon Master almost uttered at the creature, who beckoned a hoof for him, but behind Po, the whispering trees waned their living velvet greens as if the dark gray ripples and blotches slithered to his feet, rotting the light. With his heart clutching to fast grips with war drums, pacing his nippy breaths, Po clenched his weapon ready and faced the darkness.

"Show yourself, shadow!"

The violet eyes and vicious smile emerged, thrumming the black bear's haunting laughs. The door knocking forced Po out of the dream.

"Gah!" Po gasped.

"Dragon Master, are you awake?" the voice of Captain asked behind the rice-paper door.

Giving his breaths to alleviate, pressing his heart before letting out his sigh of relief, Po removed the bed cover. The shoji door opened ajar before sliding full, seeing the canine. "Pack your things. You and the warriors are almost arriving at the rendezvous point."

A/N:

— You might be curious about Po's dream. In my first book (during rewrites), my OC, Lady Xia, saw the elk and dolphins in her dream, and now Po saw him, my classified character (unfortunately, it is not Wang). Their dreams will only occur once in their lifetime to see my character. I will only flesh out a few secret puzzles that could have hidden easter egg moments as I will write an original book someday. I do not know when, and I do not know where to begin, but I know for sure that when the time comes, my writing journey to the new realm, outside of KFP and fanfics, inspired by the lands of Middle Earth, Westeros, and Narnia, will be a long one for my main character start his tale.

— Since I watched KFP 4 last month, I like having Po put his red cape on with a new conical hat, including his patched shorts (sheesh, I hope he uses other pairs because he wears those all the time after so many years. Come on, Po! Why not Master Rhino's robes? Why not a brown robe with a green shawl like Shifu's? What about your outfit from the Spirit Realm?).

— Expect another chapter for a special guest, who will appear! Drags, you'll love someone's appearance!